Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.
Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week, we got new music from Soccer Mommy, Illuminati Hotties, Jamie xx, and more.
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Bonny Light Horseman – Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free
The folk trio Bonny Light Horseman are back with a sprawling, gorgeous double album, Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free. Consisting of indie heroes Anais Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman, the musicians’ follow-up to 2022’s Rolling Golden Holy is another stellar entry to their oeuvre. Radiant, rapturous, and robust, Bonny Light Horseman’s latest glows with the inviting warmth of a campfire.
Jamie xx – “Treat Each Other Right”
It almost doesn’t even feel real that there’s a new Jamie xx album on the way. Since his 2015 debut, In Colour, the English producer has released singles intermittently. He did it with such irregularity that you’d assume he was destined to remain a “singles” artist in perpetuity. In Waves, his long-awaited second album, will prove that assumption wrong. “Treat Each Other Right,” the single that comes alongside the announcement, shows that Jamie’s music has lost none of its luster. After establishing a pulsing house beat, everything cuts out to let the soul sample play out in its original form, only to kick things back into full swing seconds later. Jamie pulls off this feat not just once, but twice. It’s these kinds of surprises in his music that keeps listeners on their toes, ready to switch up the mood of the dancefloor at a moment’s notice.
Perennial – Art History
Perennial use genres like a painter uses colors. How about a blues riff that plays over some Sonic Youth-esque art-rock? What about this ’60s surf melody that kicks into a wall of noisy distortion mere moments later? Such is Art History, the new record from the punk trio Perennial. Over the course of 12 tracks, almost all of which clock in at under two minutes, guitarist Chad Jewett, electric organist Chelsey Hahn, and drummer Ceej Dioguardi deliver a vertiginously fun collage.
Kississippi – “Last Time”
“We’re so in tune,” Zoe Reynolds sang on her last record as Kississippi. 2021’s Mood Ring was a collection of 10 love songs, exploring the tragicomic effects that love can have on those in its thrall. This time, the Philly artist, on her forthcoming EP, Damned If I Do It For You, leans a little more into the tragic side of things. Lead single “Last Time” was born from an unexpected run-in with an ex who’s now happily dating someone else. Despite the loneliness she felt in that moment, “Last Time” abounds with funky synth bass and big-screen pop hooks, bolstering Reynolds’ insouciant lyrics about moving on and feeling better for it.
Illuminati Hotties – “Didn’t”
Sarah Tudzin is one of the music industry’s driving artistic forces. Having produced, mixed, and engineered dozens upon dozens of albums, including everyone from Boygenius and Coldplay to Cloud Nothings and The Armed, Tudzin’s tasteful audiophilia is like its own omnipresent entity whether you’re aware of its existence or not. While managing a hectic job as an audio engineer, Tudzin makes self-coined “tender punk” as Illuminati Hotties. Power, Tudzin’s latest outing under the moniker, retains the sunny, self-assured joviality and gritty undertones of her previous work, and on her new single, “Didn’t,” she further refines the appositely named subgenre she assigned herself.
Soccer Mommy – “Lost”
Sophie Allison’s last album as Soccer Mommy, 2022’s Sometimes, Forever, was a loud, shoegaze-influenced endeavor made with Oneohtrix Point Never’s synth savant Daniel Loptain. Her new single, “Lost,” isn’t a retreat so much as it is a renewal, embracing her start as a singer-songwriter with a guitar. She has been playing it during a series of intimate shows dubbed “The Lost Tour,” and, while there’s no album announcement yet, it feels like it’s only a matter of time.
Cassandra Jenkins – “Petco”
Wandering the aisles of a pet store can provide temporary companionship, but it can also leave you feeling disillusioned. At least that’s how Brooklyn singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins feels at Petco. It doesn’t make her feel better, just less alone, as she sings at the end of the chorus. It’s yet another excellent preview of My Light, My Destroyer, which is quickly shaping up to be one of the best albums of the year.
Floating Points – “Del Oro”
Sam Shepherd is a master of tension and release. As Floating Points, the British electronic musician gets dancefloors in motion by building up to a cathartic moment, but he creates that moment without falling prey to cheap tactics employed by so many EDM producers. His tactics, as heard on new single “Del Oro,” are far more subtle. Throughout its six-minute-plus runtime, Shepherd slowly amasses a slew of sonic flourishes, which come into the aural field one by one. “Del Oro” truly sounds like it’s made of gold.
Fax Gang & Parannoul – “Lullaby For A Memory”
Cloud rap outfit Fax Gang and DIY shoegazer Parannoul sound immaculate together. Their new joint single, “Lullaby For A Memory,” is a mesmerizing hybrid of the two artists’ styles, where cacophony and melody, clipping MIDI guitars and clean, AutoTuned vocals, all get equal billing. It’s such a stunner that you can only hope that this new song isn’t a one-and-done collaboration.
David Lynch & Chrystabell – “Sublime Eternal Love”
The way David Lynch describes the genesis of Cellophane Memories, his new album with Chrystabell, sounds like something straight out of a Lynch movie. As he puts it in a press release, he was on a late-night walk in a forest, and he saw a bright light emerge over the tops of its tall trees. The light turned out to be Chrystabell’s soothing, languid voice, which guides the album’s lead single, “Sublime Eternal Love.” Over ambient synth pads, Chrystabell’s spectral vocals weave in and out of frame, appearing and disappearing like a ghost you could’ve sworn was there. The whole thing sounds appropriately Lynchian.
